FEATURED NEWS

Thank You, Allen!

We’ll miss you!

In September, Feeding Laramie Valley said a bittersweet farewell to a wonderful employee, Allen Gonzales-Willert, who has moved to Washington DC to pursue a career with the U.S. Department of Commerce. Allen has been an integral part of the FLV team ever since beginning his time here as an AmeriCorps VISTA member in 2021. He loved FLV so much that he decided to stay on as a VISTA Leader after his first year of service ended, and then he was hired on as a full-time staff member with the National Service Team. We are so grateful to Allen for his hard work and dedication to FLV’s mission over the years!

Whether orienting new volunteers, designing children’s activities for events, or serving the Albany County community through various FLV programs, Allen brought a positive and fun attitude every day. He was a valued member of the National Service Team, using his experience in Peace Corps and AmeriCorps VISTA, as well as his passion for service, to recruit amazing new AmeriCorps VISTA members with ease. The FLV team will miss his sense of humor, support, dedication, and “can-do” outlook, and we wish him all the best! Thank you, Allen!! 

Farmers Market Success

The farmers market season has come to an end! For the first time, FLV partnered with the Laramie Downtown Farmers Market to expand our compost program. With this partnership, we were able to educate the Laramie community on compost as well as collect compost during the market. We collected produce donations from local farmers and community members during our time there as well. This donated produce was distributed to the Laramie community members as part of our Shares Program throughout the summer. We are very grateful to those who contributed!

We also enjoyed our time connecting with the community. We were able to meet new people and reconnect with familiar faces. The return of our smoothie bike brought enjoyment from the community, especially for curious kids. This year we also mixed and matched our sun teas, creating interesting flavors for those attending to try, including our popular "mystery tea!" Those who guessed correctly got a prize. This was definitely one of our favorite things that we did this summer, and we plan to continue it next year! Thank you for a successful farmers market season, and we will see you next year!



Field Notes: Hydroponics Exploration

Season Extension: 

No soil, no backyard? No natural sunlight? No problem. A hydroponics growing system can give you the ability to work with your space to grow food year-round! Feeding Laramie Valley has been utilizing hydroponics for season extension (lettuce in January? Yes, please!), starting seedlings to be transplanted outside, and to test different methods of hydroponic growing systems.

What is Hydroponics? 

Simply said, hydroponics is growing plants without soil. The narrative that soil is indispensable to plant growth is being proved wrong by the versatility of soilless growing. While soil has its irrevocable place in growing, hydroponics has proven to have a place as well.

Hydroponics functions off of a reservoir to hold the water and nutrient solution, and, in some cases, the plants themselves. In addition, it requires lighting, a growing medium, and ventilation of some sort. 

What are the Potential Benefits of Hydroponics? 

1. Season Extension: in geographical areas, such as Laramie with a very limited outdoor growing season, indoor hydroponics can be a great way to grow year-round. 

2. Location: Generally, hydroponics can be built and catered to your specific space and location. It allows people that may not have quality soil, a backyard, or the desire to garden outside an alternative option. In fact, hydroponics has been used by NASA to grow vegetables like lettuce in outer space. 

3. More controlled, faster plant growth: from our own experience and outside research, plants can grow more quickly in controlled, hydroponic systems. In-soil plants send out roots to search for nutrients, some of which may be high or low depending on soil type and/or not in a form that is able to be used by the plant. On the other hand, hydroponics, provides a constant flow of water, oxygen, and essential nutrients over the roots, taking the unknown variable out of the equation. 

4. No weeding: One fantastic aspect of hydroponics is that there is no need to weed! That has been one of our favorite benefits. 



5. Easier to replicate: Since hydroponics doesn't experience all the variability of traditional outdoor growing (temperature, hail, rain), the results can be more automated and consistent across the board, allowing you to master one specific method. While there can still be unknown variables such as pests and variables that can cause changes in pH, temperature, or plant needs, with attention to detail, most can be easily remedied.

Our Top Drip System Growing Lettuce in Winter 

Through the USDA, Feeding Laramie Valley received a Specialty Crops Program grant that supported the development and implementation of hydroponics and aeroponics indoor growing systems, designed to move a community food system into sufficient production for addressing year-round food insecurity. This funding enabled our team to scale up practices learned through the pilot process to produce a variety of specialty crops, greens, and vegetables to be distributed throughout all four seasons. 

With this grant we were able to trial two different systems that would fit our space, address our needs and would be replicable for community members.

1. Results showed that indoor growing systems for specialty crops are viable to support sustainable year-round production. 
2. The hydroponics system was especially viable for producing spinach, kale, lettuce varieties, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and culinary herbs. 
3. A majority of plants reached a larger size more quickly and had a better success rate for fruiting than their same counterparts started in soil.
4. The bin style hydroponics system would be a great option for an individual looking to provide a single-family home with year-round produce; the top drip style was best for larger scale facilities and required a larger amount of space and resources dedicated specifically to hydroponics.  

Our top drip hydroponics system this year was able to produce 140 pounds of kale, butterhead lettuce, oregano, cilantro, and basil, in addition to 112 Lunch Box pepper starts, 112 Fairy Tale eggplant starts, and 120 Cherokee Purple tomato starts. With the hydroponics system lowering the number of days until harvest for peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants, it increased the amount fruit we were able to produce over the short growing season, which typically gets cut short with the first frost and decreases our yield!

Keep your eyes open for a more detailed newsletter and workshop on hydroponic growing! 

Deni, a member of the 2024 Summer Production team, transplanting peppers into soil from hydroponics (look at those roots!)

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND EVENTS

World Food Day

October 16th is World Food Day! This is a day designated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to bring people together over our fundamental right to safe, healthy, affordable, culturally-appropriate food. Feeding Laramie Valley will be partnering with local Laramie restaurants and businesses to raise funds and awareness for our work in the community to create a sustainable and equitable food system and promote food security in Albany County. If you own a business and would like to participate, please reach out! Help us make the day a success by visiting participating businesses on October 16th. See www.feedinglaramievalley.org for more details and a list of participating businesses!

Who’s Your Favorite Non-Profit?

This month, in honor of World Food Day, we are participating in the monthly Toyota Cares fundraiser. Each month, Toyota of Laramie gives $1,000 to the organization with the most number of votes on their Facebook page.

You can cast your vote just by commenting with our name on the post of the previous month’s Toyota’s Cares recipient, located here: Toyota Cares September Winner, or find the post from September 25th announcing Laramie Police Department Foundation as the September winner on the Toyota of Laramie Facebook page, and comment with our name! Thank you for your support!)

You’re Invited!

Welcome local artisans and soup-tasters and creators! This December we will be hosting our popular fundraiser- Soup and Solstice. Come out for our soup competition, hand-crafted bowls, hot chocolate bar, and silent auction!

PROGRAM UPDATES

Thank you Irving's Hardwood Furnishings!

The Feeding Laramie Valley kitchen got a facelift last month thanks to Irving’s Hardwood Furnishings in Laramie! The kitchen gets a lot of use from the Kids Out to Lunch program every summer, so it’s been feeling some wear and tear and was ready for an upgrade. Thank you Irving’s Hardwood Furnishings for your donation and beautiful work helping us get one step closer to our dream community kitchen!

New Fall Hours for Mobile Market

The Mobile Market has a new Fall schedule! We’ll be visiting the same locations on the same days, but we’ve moved to earlier hours. Stop by to buy some fresh produce and choose the price you can afford!

New Fall Hours:

Tuesdays: Ivinson Memorial Hospital in Laramie, 2:30-5:30 PM

(at Entrance 4, on the West side of the building)

Wednesdays: Old Corral Hotel and Steakhouse in Centennial, 2:30-5:30 PM

Thursdays: Holiday Park in Rock River, 2:30-5:30 PM

​The Mobile Market has had a challenging but very successful summer! Back in June, two days after the official 2024 launch of the Feeding Laramie Valley Mobile Market, our renovated 1973 International Bluebird school bus broke down on the way to Rock River. But we didn’t let that get us down! We immediately pivoted to a farm stand-style system, where instead of driving the bus we brought a tent, tables, and all of our produce to each of our stops—rain or shine! Because of this, we were still able to get to our stops at Ivinson Hospital in Laramie, Centennial, and Rock River weekly this summer.

Unfortunately, while our fantastic mechanics at Warren’s Towing and Repair have been searching diligently, the necessary part to fix up the bus has been very hard to find. However, we’re really hopeful that the bus will be up and running soon, and in the meantime we’ll continue to use our tent-and-tables system for as long as we can.

​Although it’s been a challenging summer, we’ve made produce accessible to many people in Laramie, Centennial, and Rock River, and we’ve started to build meaningful relationships in each community we visit. It’s been so much fun to meet, chat with, and get to know so many new people, and the unwavering support we’ve received from everyone has been essential to helping us navigate the curveballs this summer has thrown at us. With the bus repair schedule still up in the air, we plan to continue to keep the market going for as far into the fall as we can. Thank you for all of your support, and we hope to see you at one of our stops soon!

Now Recruiting Foster Grandparents!

Foster Grandparents of the Wyoming Rockies is looking for people 55+ who want to make a difference in the life of a child. You can find fellowship with your peers and have some fun, all while making a difference in your community. For a minimum 15-20 hour per week commitment, you'll earn a tax-exempt stipend, mileage reimbursement, paid days off, and paid holidays. The Foster Grandparent Program provides volunteer opportunities for low-income seniors from all economic, educational, and social backgrounds to support children in schools and child care centers. We support 7 counties in Wyoming. Call us or stop in today to see if you qualify! 

crystal@actionresources.ngo

307-223-1051

968 N. 9^th St 

Laramie WY 82072